Friday, November 16, 2007

Staxs is a deck played to much success in Vintage. Staxs is a control deck which uses Uba Mask, Trinisphere, Smokestack, tangle wire and many power nine cards for accel to create a “lock” on your opponent were they don’t have any permanents or draw any cards. Here is a sample list played by Robert Vroman at the 2006 world championships.

The deck runs on the lock with Uba Mask and Ensnaring Bridge so that your opponents can’t attack you. Here are the card uses and the explanations for putting them in the deck.

LandsGhost Quarter- Hates on nonbasic lands especially tron and when coupled with Crucible of Worlds makes for a very good combo Barbarian Ring- Provides red land and once you reach threshold it is one of your primary win cons when combined with Crucible of the Worlds Academy Ruins- Gets back your artifacts if your opponent destroys them Gemstone Mine- Provides color fixing Blinkmoth Well- Taps static orb so that you can untap all of you permanents instead of just 2 Stalking Stones- Man land one of your primary win cons

CreaturesSimian Spirit Guide- Adds land so you can hit the turn 1-2 Trinisphere or any of the other 3 mana artifacts Braids, Cabal Minion- Is your Smokestack although not as powerful it still kills your opponents stuff and with crucible out u never run out of things to sac into it. It can also win the game by swinging with it.

ArtifactsHowling Mine- Card drawing you can use Blinkmoth Well so that only you draw the extra card. Also this gives you the ability to mill your opponent if you set up a lock with Uba Mask, Braids, and Bridge. Ensnaring Bridge- One of the most important cards in the deck. This card keeps you alive. When combined with Uba Mask your opponent will never be able to attack again. Talisman of Dominance- Mana fixing is its only use Static Orb- Another very important card in the deck, this is one of your “lock cards” that prevents your opponent from untapping while you sill can by tapping it at the end of their turn with Blinkmoth Well. Trinisphere- This is another “lock card”. This card makes the game extremely difficult for your opponent when you have Braids out by making everything cost 3 when your opponents can’t get any lands to stick. Crucible of Worlds- Is a very important part of the deck. It allows you to combo with Barbarian ring to kill off your opponent. Uba Mask – This is the coup de grace card in your deck. This and Ensnaring Bridge say your opponent can never attack you. This also says your opponent doesn’t draw any more cards.

SpellsThirst for Knowledge – Thirst is your basic card draw, which is important in this deck so you can find Gifts or your artifacts. Burning Wish- This allows you to tutor out cards useful for any situation with your Wish-board. Gifts Ungiven- Gifts is what makes this deck possible. If you cast and resolve Gifts the possibilities are endless. But you are usually going to get Ancient Ruins, Crucible of the World, Uba Mask, and Ensnaring Bridge. This allows you to set up your lock with Mask and Bridge. If you already have 1 of these cards get a Static Orb, Trinisphere, or a Burning Wish.

Match upsTEPS- This is an easy first game if you can get an early braids or Uba Mask. Also Cranial Extracting Mind’s Desire hurts them so they have to wish for it and 1 copy usually isn’t enough to go off with. If you have Trinisphere out as well it is pretty much un winnable for them because they can use cabal and Rite of Flame with out having 2 extra mana open. Trinisphere also affects dark Water Egg and Lotus Bloom.

Sideboarding- -3 Ensnaring Bridge they have no creatures so whats the point + 3 Duress Hurts the Combo pieces and gets early accell

No Stick/ Scepter Chant- A hard match to be sure. You just have to play around their counters and get a Shattering Spree with wish and hope to get a braids and/or a static orb out.

Aggro Loam- A very hard match up that I am not very confident about. In this match you need to get Cranial on Life from the Loam and Hull Breach on Seismic Assault. This deck makes me want to run Pithing Needle for Assault. I’m not to concerned about their creatures because of the Mask/Bridge combo.

Sideboarding- -3 Trinisphere- All of their cards cost 2-3 and they have so much many they can afford to pay the extra +3 Duress- Hates on Assault

UW Tron- This is one of the easiest matchups you will face in the Tier 1 decks. Ghost Quarter+ Crucible of the Worlds wreaks them. As does Braids and Shattering Spree in the sb. But beware that if you allow their mana base to stablize they will wreak you with Sundering Titian.

Sideboarding -3 Trinisphere- Everything they play costs more than 3 except for the 7-9 counters +3 Duress- Gets rid of counters

Borros Deck Wins- This is a hard match to win unless you can get crucible out early then go Wish for Wildfire/Devastating Dreams FTW. Once you cast Fire/Dreams you should be able to recover quickly with Crucible and play Braids to keep them low on resources. Watch out for their burn. A turn 2 Trinisphere also goes a long way to help in this match.

Sideboarding- -3 Howling Mine- We don’t want them drawing more cards +3 Chalice (set for 1 or 2) Gets rid of 80% of their spells

This deck has so many different directions that it can turn. I believe this deck can be fitted to beat any deck. You could add white for vindicate and prophesy nodes. It can also add cards such as Sundering Titan or Mindslaver for some added kick if necessary. The decks Sideboard is also easily changeable. Your can make a wish board specifically for your meta or stay with the general list that I have here. This deck can crack the meta open and I hope you give this a whirl because you will be surprised at what it can do.